Julianne Johnson Ewings (1938 - )

I know, it seems almost every blog starts out with something that was discovered in the Harbor History Museum Research Room.  But you have to understand, outside of people’s memories and personal documents, the Harbor History Museum through its archives, exhibits and research room has the largest collection of documented history from and of our community. 

The research room is basically where the individual blogs are born; although , and people’s questions and comments play a part too.  When more information is needed or leads to further research, it is trips to the Northwest Room at the Tacoma Public Library or our own Gig Harbor Peninsula Pierce County Library.  But let’s not forget the internet, or the older residents of our community.

But today’s blog originates from notes that Julianne Johnson Ewing made in anticipation of recording her oral history, as well as the recorded oral history which expands her notes.

So sit back, make yourself comfortable, grab that cup of tea, or coffee, and enjoy Julianne’s family history which is also Gig Harbor’s history recorded in July, 2010.

The interviewer:  Pat Carter (PC); Interviewee: Julianne Johnson Ewings (JJE)

“ PC:  Julianne, could you tell us about your very beginnings.  Let’s start with your parents and their beginnings as far back as you can trace it in early Gig Harbor.

JJE:  Well I think basically I’ll go way back because I’ve always been proud of the fact that my great, great grandfather settled here I think in 1867 or so.  So basically he I think rode into the harbor while fishing with some friends, and they liked it so he decided he would move his family here. …

PC:  And what was the name?

JJE:  Samuel Jerisich and his wife, Annie.  I believe her last name was Willits and she was a Native American that I think he met when he was basically exploring the area.  I think he started fishing.  He’d come around the horn probably three times.  It is my understanding he sailed out of Kotor on the Dalmation coast.  The third time around he ventured beyond north of San Francisco and went to the area of Vancouver Island where I think he fished.  There he met Annie.  I believe by the time he rode into the harbor in 1867, they had a daughter.  I believe her name was Caroline.  So that’s where it all began. {Note: Annie Willet was a member of the Penelakut Tribe from Thetis Island in B.C according to boards.ancestry.com} 

Samuel Jerisich & Anna WIllits Jerisich and family

JJE:  [JJE Notes:  Initially they were near the sand spit, but later moved near what I remember as Maury’s boathouse.  I always thought they were rather adventurous and am amazed at the energy it must have taken to get through each day, although that is true of all of the early settlers in this country.]

After that I believe Annie and Sam were among the first settlers in Gig Harbor.  They were soon joined by others One of them was Joe Dorotich.  Joe ended up marrying Annie and Sam’s oldest daughter, Caroline.  They in turn had several children one of which turned out to be my grandmother.  Her name was Ann Dorotich.  . . . .  Anyway, it’s interesting to note that eventually they - quite a few of them married into the Skansie family.  [JJE Notes: Caroline and Joe Dorotich children:  I’m not sure about the birth order.  I know John must have died before I was born:  John, Martha, Anne, Amanda, Cathering, Jack {Jacob is referenced in Caroline’s will, but I only remember Jack}, George, Marie. ]  These (Skansie) were brothers that came here from - I think it was a town called Sumatran - an island off the Dalmatian coast.  So there were four of those brothers.  Joe Skansie - I think the first Skansie to come here was Peter - his brother Peter.  Then Andrew and Mitchell came so they were sort of key members of the Gig Harbor community as far as I could tell.  My grandfather, Joe married Ann Dorotich.  His brother Mitchell married Amanda Dorotich.  Let’s see - Mattie or Martha actually married another Skansie.  He was really a cousin of the four brothers.  Basically it was interesting how I guess it was sort of a limited social situation.  There were all these pretty girls and four brothers and they all got connected somehow or other.  Anyway, so great, great grandparents, Annie Willet and Sam Jerisich; great grandparents, Caroline and Joe Dorotich; and my grandparents were Ann Dorotich Skansie and Joe Skansie.  Of course, that’s the family I know most about.  

[JJE Notes:  I also have extensive memories of Catherine Dorotich and Marie Dorotich Gustafson, and saw a lot of Grand Uncle George Dorotich and Jack Dorotich.  George used to come to our house and listen to Seattle Rainiers’ baseball games.  Jack liked electronics.  He was the first in the family to make home movies and actually have a projector so we could see the films.  He also made a TV set from some sort of kit.  It seemed that whenever I went to Catherine Dorotich’s house (formerly my Great Grandmother Caroline’s house), we would watch TV.]

[JJE Notes:  I remember going to Uddenberg’s store when very young when it was across from Doctor Ryan’s office.  There was deep sawdust on the floor in the meat’s cutting area.  I also recall renting freezer space at Finholm’s store before home freezers became available.  And there was the dy the electric range was installed. . . . {Note:  At this time, JJE lived in Grandpa Joe Skansie’s house, later became Herring Bait Store and now Threshold Group}

Walking from People's Wharf from Westside Grocery to Skansie Shipyard, Joseph Skansie house on left side behind people

. . .Once “Galloping Gertie” was replaced with the second Narrows Bridge, my parents considered more choices for high school.  The father of one of our Harbor Intermediate classmates, commuted to Tacoma to work everyday.   . . . A few parents got together and decided we would attend Aquinas Academy in Tacoma instead of Peninsula High.  My mother had boarded at Aquinas when it also included elementary school.  Herb Duren dropped us off at Aquinas in the morning; after school one of our moms would pick us up for the trip home to GH.  . . .

Jane Stanich Dempsey, Mary Ellen Jerovich and Irene Stanich

{Note:  JJE schools were Grades 1, 2 & 4 - Lincoln School now the LDS Church; Grade 3 - Crescent Valley School Vernhardshon & 96th St near City Park; Grades 5 through 8 - Harbor Intermediate School} {Note:  Irene Stanich, Tony Stanich’s daughter and Jane Stanch Dempsey, John & Pauline Castelan Stanich’s daughter were JJE’s closest friends}

1948 Crescent Valley School with fire escapes west side (Frank Owen Shaw) HHM Collection

 . . . My dad was Julius Peder Johnson, eldest son of Peder and Christine Johnson who settled in Wollochet Bay after first living in Tacoma where Julius was born.  My Johnson uncles and aunt were Arthur, Ralph and Alice.  Grandfather Johnson fished, not in Puget Sound, but the Skagit River.  My Grandmother Christine died when I was about 5 years old so I don’t remember her at all. . . .

. . .My Uncle Arthur worked on the railroads before entering the US Army during WWII.  Later on he was a crew member on ferries, then moved to Vancouver, WA.  Uncle Ralph owned a car dealership and garage at the end of the harbor.  Ralph married Betty Merry.  They had a son Jim, and daughter Janice.  Aunt Alice married Paul Polman.  They had a son, John, and daughter, Bonnie, and resided in Tacoma.  Alice died in a car accident in about 1953. . . .

. . .Mostly, I socialized with my cousins.  Paul Gustafson (who I think was really a great uncle but the same age as JJE) and first cousins Joe, Dave, Chuck and George Uhlman, grandsons of Joe Skansie.  Their mom was Caroline Skansie Uhlman.  They lived in Fircrest, near Tacoma. . . .

. . . Paul’s dad Carl Gustafson was the town’s heating fuel dealer and he had an extra truck bed by his garage.  It was a generic background for many adventures. . . . Occasionally I would visit some of Paul’s Gustafson and Uddenberg cousins.  Of course I was also close to other cousins, sons of Amanda Skansie Pendergast (Jim) and Clarice Skansie Richardson (Michael and Richard).  I did not connect much with children of Bill or Mitchie Skansie.  I often visited my next door neighbors Mike and Sophie Jerisich a lot.  (I think Mike was a cousin also.)  . . .

. . . My Grandpa Johnson sold the home in the mid-1950s and moved to University {Place} to reside with daughter Alice Johnson Pohlman. 

The Johnson’s lived across the road from the Uhlman’s in Wollochet Bay.  They may have participated in some mischief together. . . .  Later on, George Uhlman, a Catholic, convinced my dad, a non-church goer, to participate in a play at St. Nicholas Church in Gig Harbor.  He did and as a result met my mother who was also on the program as a member of the Skansie band along with her sister Caroline and cousins Amanda and Tina Skansie (Mitchell’s daughters).  The standing joke is that my dad liked the way my mother puckered while playing her clarinet.

I hope this brief glimpse into Julianne’s history has whetted your curiosity, and left you with the desire to learn so much more about Julianne’s extended family relationships.  There is much more revealed in Julianne Johnson Ewing’s Oral history and her accompanying notes, and just another reason to visit the Harbor History Museum and its Research Room and pursue the records kept therein.

© 2012 Harbor History Museum. All rights reserved.

Emmett Hunt's Diary entry for Wednesday, March 19, 1884

Thin clouds & cool.  Arose early & by constant & patient work got our boat launched & painted and bud plate put in, wheel & shaft hung likewise rudder.  Now bed at 11:30 PM

© 2012 Harbor History Museum. All rights reserved.

Harbor Heights History 1953-1978

As much as I love books, and holding the actual documents in my hands to read, make notes and pondering the meanings behind the words, I have to admit I’ve become an internet junkie.  Adults are always up-in-arms about the vast amount of time young people spent on the computer and the effects of the technology diminishing the value of time.  But let me be the first to say, the internet has brought so much more information available, and easier, than sitting down tracking books and other written information when you have no idea where to begin.   All you have to do is type in a couple words and suddenly you have pages of leads to check out and see if any of them answer your questions.

I did that one day and the internet came up with a document which is the title of today’s blog.  Once I started to read the piece I immediately knew who authored it even though the author did not sign his name.  It filled in gaps of my knowledge regarding Harbor Heights Elementary School’s history.  My history of the school started in January 1977; just a year before the record ends.  

So why am I telling you this?  I asked the author, Gary Williamson, if he would object to my using his story as a blog for the Harbor History Museum.  He gave his permission, and so the following are segments of Gary’s story of Harbor Heights history.  Again, with his permission, I have placed a copy of the complete document in the files of the Harbor History Museum Research Room should you wish to read the complete document.  

Harbor Heights History 1953-1978 as written by Gary Williamson

This is just a slice of Peninsula School District history, but it is a slice I fondly remember while spending my first of 16 years of my educational career at Harbor Heights School. I’ve known that the history of the public schools on the Peninsula is long, however, I’ve recently been reminded how long when I came across the list of former schools compiled by a friend, Joan Bassett. Joan created the list of schools and added some fascinating information about the schools. That information can be found in “Peninsula Bank-Notes of October 1974. Subsequently, I went to the historical museum and found out about more schools which existed here on the Peninsula and stories about their teachers and students. 

I have thought for years that more school history should be documented and given to the museum for future interested folks to peruse. I will credit Rosemary Ross and Joan Storkman for getting me re-interested and doing something about it. I will begin with my own recollections and of course as much fact as possible, of the years I spent working for the Peninsula School District at Harbor Heights School before moving on to Discovery Elementary School. 

Harbor Heights was originally constructed in 1953 on a wonderful site atop the hill overlooking Gig Harbor Bay. It has had a proud tradition of educating the children of Gig Harbor for over 50 years. It began by serving the children of the Croatian fishing families and Scandinavian farming families as well as many other early pioneer families. The property has since been sold and is the home of the Gig Harbor City Hall. The “new” Harbor Heights School has been relocated on 36th Street. 

The school population was growing in the early 50’s and the existing schools, Rosedale, Crescent Valley and Lincoln were aging and small. The idea to consolidate those schools into one was presented to the community and approved. Harbor Heights was constructed as an eight room school with the funds available. It housed 250 children in grades 1-4. Lincoln remained open to house 5th graders while the 6th graders attended Harbor Intermediate (Goodman) School. Stan Dahl was assigned as the principal of the new school while the teaching staff came from Rosedale and Crescent Valley schools. The charter members of the teaching staff were: Evalyn Miller and Maria Hageness, grade one, Thelma Cummings and Hetty Wilkinson, grade two, Ruth Little and Mary Skrivanich, grade three, Jean Eaton and Joy Pratt, grade four, Charl Blackwood, grade five. Malcolm Martin came in 1955 to teach grade six. Rudy Moller and Roger Iverson came to teach grade six between 1956 and 1959. 

The school population continued to grow so almost as soon as Harbor Heights was constructed, an addition was in the planning stages. Once again the community accepted a bond proposal and several more rooms were added to the building. At this time Lincoln School (now the site of the Latter Day Saints Church) closed and the 5th and 6th grades began attending Harbor Heights. 

In those years funds were always scarce for the essentials such as books, paper, and other teaching supplies. Likewise, money for custodial supplies, maintenance items and transportation was scarce. Money for building schools may have been even easier to obtain than supplies as the sale of state timber harvests was the source for new schools and the timber industry was thriving. Also, the school lunch program came into existence about this time and it too flourished because government food surplus’s were funneled to schools and other public institutions. 

Stan, as principal and the teachers who worked with him did a great job of presenting an exemplary program with their knowledge of teaching, their creativity, and hard work with what we would consider today minimal resources. 

Stan was a happy, jovial person with a good sense of humor and a strong work ethic. He made parents and their children feel proud and comfortable in their school. He had strong parent support through the PTA and volunteer help. The teachers respected his leadership and the school’s overall personality was a bright spot in our community. I will have to say that one of Stan’s strongest traits was his resourcefulness. He could get supplies for maintenance and custodial needs through surplus outlets or through people he just knew. 

An example of Stan’s resourcefulness was his experience with trying to get curtains for the gym windows. The gym was used not only for P.E. but also for plays and films. The sun shone glaringly through the windows which were about 25 feet above the floor. He requested money for curtains several times and was turned down each time. Not to be defeated in his quest for curtains, Stan asked the maintenance supervisor, Morrie Campbell to see if he could find some dark material at the Boeing surplus facility to use as curtains. Morrie came in several days later with a couple of large black parachutes. Stan brought his wife’s sewing machine to school, began measuring and sewing together black parachute curtains. Morrie at the same time constructed the curtain rods, hung them and was ready for the curtains. Stan finished his sewing and he and Morrie hung the curtains on the east side of the gym. Wonderful! So, they moved to the west side, hung the curtains and they were four feet short of coming together. Instead of bringing the curtains down to sew on four more feet, Stan took the sewing machine up the ladder, placed it on the window sill and sewed on four more feet of parachute under very precarious conditions. The curtains remained in use until the building was sold and razed in the late 1990’s. 

He felt the school and in fact the school district needed more young male and female teachers in the elementary schools. He would spend time at his alma mater, Pacific Lutheran College, talking to the professors to find the best young men and women to recruit and come to the Peninsula. Several of our excellent teachers can credit him with helping them find a way to this school district. 

Stan was interested in many outside activities also. For instance, he acquired some rental homes in the Parkland area, where he spent most of his young life. He remodeled and maintained them for an additional income. He also was interested in going into private business which is where I entered the scene and work experience with Stan. 

I had begun teaching grade five at the district’s newest School, Artondale in 1959 , following a tour in the Marine Corps, college and marriage. I taught two years at Artondale and then requested a leave of absence for one year. I returned to college to complete my required 5th year of education which I included in a Master’s program in School Administration. We returned to the Peninsula in1962 and I was placed at Harbor Heights to teach grade five and complete an Intern program under the tutelage of Stan Dahl. 

Because all administrators seemed well established in this school district I began looking at other school districts which were advertising for principals. During the early spring of 1963 Stan came to me knowing I was beginning to interview with other districts and said, “Why don’t you consider staying on with this district as I am retiring to go into the road striping business.” I was surprised but immediately made an appointment with our superintendent, Harold Best. I applied for the position, was accepted and began a 15 year career as the new principal of Harbor Heights in September of 1963. I was 30 years old. 

I will never forget my first year as the principal of Harbor Heights. The school at that time housed grades 1 through 6. There were 13 teachers, 10 of whom were veterans and 3 who were new to teaching. There was 1 custodian, 2 cooks and a 1⁄2 time secretary whose primary responsibility was to count the lunch program money. There was also a band teacher who came once or twice a week to teach 5th and 6th grade band. The county provided a visiting nurse who came once a month. 

My office equipment and supplies consisted of a manual Royal ribbon typewriter, a telephone, an electric clock and bell system which was harder to set and learn about than some of my college classes. My desk and chair were oak and government surplus as were most of the teacher desks and chairs. My chair had coasters which I had to learn to balance without falling over backwards which actually happened to some school personnel who needed to make a call from the only private phone in the building. 

The service area for Harbor Heights was huge. During those years, before 1970 when Purdy Elementary opened, the service area for Harbor Heights extended from the Kitsap County line along the waterfront including Pt. Richmond to the tip of the Gig Harbor sandspit. It also took in the roads all around Burley Lagoon and Wauna. The area included North Rosedale all along past Allen’s Point, Rosedale Bay and followed Rosedale Street to Gig Harbor. Included also was all of Gig Harbor and south along Reid Road to the Narrows Bridge and then back to Gig Harbor following Highway 16. It crossed the highway to include the Midway area. I can remember several times taking sick children to their homes in Wauna and Goodman Drive almost to the county line. 

Our busses certainly put on many miles during their pick up and deliveries. 

I was recently reminded about the size of our service area while having a conversation with Mrs. Beverly Johnson. The Johnson family had five boys and lived in Wauna. At the time of this story only the two older boys were in school. One day they went to their bus stop but were too late and missed the bus. They returned home to tell their mother. Dad took their family’s only car to work so mom said, “Well, you boys will have to walk to school.” Harbor Heights was probably twelve miles from their home in Wauna. The boys took off walking and when they reached Purdy they asked someone to use their phone to call their mom and report where they were. She said, “Keep walking, you may get to school about the time to catch the bus home.” They continued, however, she then called me at school to report what happened and where the boys were. I thought there are some dangerous stretches along the highway and the children would have to cross somewhere before Gig Harbor, so I went out and picked them up, took them to school and then called Mrs. Johnson. She thanked me while at the same time let me know that by walking all the way to school it would let them learn a good lesson about getting to the bus on time. 

When I began at Harbor Heights in 1963 the District’s elementary schools were Evergreen, Vaughn, Artondale and Harbor Heights. By the 1970’s the school population continued to grow rapidly. In 1970 Purdy opened which was a blessing, however, the enrollment continued to grow so by 1975 we were beginning to think about the next school. We created a study group made up of teachers, parents, administrators. That committee created the educational specifications, (philosophy, building features, playground ideas) and delivered them to the School Board. Following the Board’s acceptance, a bond issue was presented to the community and it passed. It was then decided to employ an architect to begin with the building plans. Because we were double shifting pupils at Purdy, Harbor Heights and Artondale we decided to create a new school and house the pupils in portable buildings on the site of Peninsula High School. This would be the sixth elementary school in the district. As an interim name it was titled Satellite #6. In the school we would house pupils from all three double shifting elementary schools from grades K through 4 until the new school would open in 1981. 

At this time I had been the principal of Harbor Heights for 15 years. I applied to the superintendent, Eugene Peters, for the position of principal of Satellite #6,(Later named Discovery) and was accepted. With that I will close this chapter of Harbor Heights history as I recall it from 1953 to 1978. 

The names of the many teachers can be found with their pictures in the scrapbooks kept by the school’s archivists. Pat Bujacich can be credited for her fine work in keeping up the scrapbooks through the 1960’s and 70’s. 

As for the listing of the various teachers, principals and other employees at Harbor Height during  the 1953-1978, that information can be found on Gary Williamson’s document.  It will be filed under Schools in the Harbor History Museum.  It can also be found on the internet where I found the document, Harbor Heights History 1953-1978.

I am however including the information Gary wrote regarding some of the personnel at Harbor Heights Elementary School regarding their relationship to the early families of the greater Gig Harbor community.

Of all the personnel who worked at Harbor Heights over the years it is interesting how many have ties to early or pioneer families from the area. Below are listed those who come to mind. 

• Rosemary Land Ross, a Gig Harbor native, whose parents homesteaded on a farm in Rosedale. 

• Hetty Wilkinson whose family farmed off Rosedale Street and is now the site of Wilkinson Farm Park. 

• Mary Skrivanich, who married Martin, a direct descendant of a Croatian fishing family. Mary grew up on San Juan Island and I remember her telling me how when the family needed a doctors appointment they rowed their skiff to Victoria, BC. 

• Pat Bujacich, who married Jake, a direct descendant of a Croatian fishing family. 

• Nancy Jerkovich, daughter of Nick Jerkovich, also from a Croatian fishing family. 

• Jody Janovich, who also married into a Croatian fishing family. 

• Myrtle Finholm,a member of the pioneer Hunt family, married into the Finholm family who owned the first telephone company in Gig Harbor. 

• Ella Fosness, married into a pioneer family from the Cromwell area. 

• Nancy Picinich, married into a Croatian fishing family. 

• Marg Tarabochia, a Montana girl, married John, a descendant of a Croatian fishing family 

• Dave Tarabochia, son of Marg and John, is of Croatian descent. 

• Nelda Spadoni Langhelm, a daughter of the early Italian family who owned Spadoni Construction Company for many years in Gig Harbor. 

• Margaret Spadoni, who married Julius Spadoni, from the early Italian family and later became president of the Spadoni Construction Company. 

• Mary Lee Squires, daughter of Mary and Martin Skrivanich, a descendant of a Croatian family 

• Rudy Moller, a member of the early Moller family who settled along Sunrise Beach. The Mollers donated the property now known as Sunrise Beach Park. 

THANK YOU 

To the people who gave me the boost to follow my instincts that the rich history of the Public Schools on the Peninsula should be recorded before more of it has been lost. Those giving me the boost were Rosemary Ross and Joan Storkman. Also helping jog my fading memory were Mac and Norma Martin, Pat Bujacich, Dave Trochim, Steve Aspden, and Roy Okamoto. Further information came from Harbor Heights scrapbooks and photo albums, PTA archives and the Gig Harbor Historical Society. 

Again, this blog has been brought to you via the wonders of the internet and Gary Williamson.  I hope it renewed some of your, or your children’s memories of the first Harbor Heights Elementary School in Gig Harbor.

© 2012 Harbor History Museum. All rights reserved.

Emmett Hunt's Diary entry for Wednesday, March 12, 1884

Quite chilly but medium weather.  Along with ---"Uncle Dart", "The Deacon" and J- S- went to Tacoma for shaft.  Am delayed & remain overnight.

© 2012 Harbor History Museum. All rights reserved.

Martin Bussanich (1910-1998)

For many, when thinking about the history of our community, the same names come up over and over again.  It’s the unfamiliar names that seem to fall through the cracks.  Yet, they, the unfamiliar, are also equally important when recalling our past.

History requires records or artifacts or memories to be left behind and without those the history falls away or disappears and we are left with an incomplete story of the past.  Those lost memories may, or may not, remain fresh within the memories of the surviving family members.  But how does the general public learn about the contributions of the departed.

Today’s name may be remembered by many families who originally settled in the Millville neighborhood, but to many others it is not commonly known - Bussanich.  Luckily for us, Martin Bussanich left an oral history recorded in February, 1990 with the Harbor History Museum.  It is from that document that this blog was made possible.

Martin Bussanich (Photo belonging to Niece Allison Ackermann Kytle)

Martin Bussanich was born on September 22, 1910 in Susak, Yugoslavia.  He died on March 13, 1998 at age 87 in Gig Harbor, Washington.  As we know from previous HHM blogs and history, Yugoslavia had a varied history starting with the Greeks and Romans, then Croats, then Venice, then Napoleon who ceded the actual governing to Austria.  Then after WWI and the collapse of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, Italy adopted the island and controlled it until 1943.  While under control of Italy, Susak Island was known as “Sansego”.  This name comes from the Greek word meaning ‘oregano’ and as nature would have it, oregano grows in abundance on the island.  

In the early 1940s the Nazis assumed control which lasted until 1945.  The Paris Peace Treaty added the island to that portion of land that became the newly formed country of Yugoslavia under Marshall Tito.  It wasn’t until 1991 that Croatia declared independence, and following the war in 1995, was and still remains part of Croatia.  

But Europe had been engaged in civil unrest and military crisis from the early to mid thirties, and many people were leaving Europe and finding their way to the United States.  Some were lucky, such as Martin, to have family members already living in the States.    Now, remember Martin turns 18 in September 1928.  Europe is still suffering from the first World War, and feeling the effects of economic depression which will eventually become, the the US, the 1929 collapse of the stock market and the “Great Depression”.

And when you read Martin’s account of arriving at Ellis Island, his total lack of English, and his physical condition, you may start wondering that if faced with the same difficulties, how would you handle it.  If you could!

Let’s have Martin tell us in his own words.  “Yeah there was a war and I tell you it was very tough.  You used to - I was just watching a lot of the time the woman go to put some - excuse me how I say - pick to give it to eat - some stuff.  She go away.  I used to pick up that stuff and eat it.  It was very tough, very tough.  It was really hard.  So then my dad send me a letter to do I want to come over to this country.  I say “Gee, I sure will.  I sure like to come.  Then when he send me that paper from the counsel, never was . . . .Five times I got to go to . . .? Five times.  . . . . to see if everything was ok.  They always find something wrong.  . . . . Something wrong all the time.  So once they - maybe I got it right and by God I got in.  So it was . . . March - 19. . .  That ship is no more.  1928 I come over - yeah - 1928.”

So, let’s hear Martin’s recollection.  “When I come over, I was in third class.  So I come over and - you got to go through examination. . . . Ellis Island - yes.  Geez what a tough time I had.  So I went over there.  You know, it was so rough, I was weak.  I eat nothing.  I was so weak.  Then they stopped me there - right there.  That’s what I said, “Look they bring blind guys and everything, but what a tough time I got.’  So they stopped me for one month.  They figured they going to send me back to Europe.  So what did they do?  My dad - he got a lawyer.  Sure.  So lawyer went to see you know this bad guys and talked to them.  They said ‘Yeah, we can leave him three months.  Three months.  After they going to give me an examination again.  So I went, three months come and my dad say ‘How about I go see them again and maybe they can give you another three months.’  So he went to see the lawyer and by gosh and he said ‘Yes, we can do it.’  So the lawyer went to see the big guys and asked for me if they’d let me stay another three months.  The lawyer then - then the big shots say ‘Yes, he can stay another three months, but after three months got to go another examination.  If they find something wrong, he’s got to go back.’  So then another three months come and I go to see the island - what do you call it? . . .Ellis Island.  See three doctors - not one - three.  They took you know like your mother got - all clothes out - and they poke me here and they poke me all over.  The blood that fall down on the floor - I took my handkerchief and wiped it up.  I said “I wish you could say that I’d like to stay here.’  I couldn’t talk - nothing.  They was talking but I couldn’t understand it.  So when they was talking, they tell me to put my clothes on and go.  My dad was outside.  He couldn’t come in.  So I put my clothes on.  My dad asked and they said nothing.  He said ‘We find out later.’  We took the ferry and went home.  I was living in . . . house.  Then I was waiting, waiting, waiting.  So I figured for sure they got something wrong. . . . . between that time - before they got lawyered me up - you know what they did?  

They brought me on the ship.  Yeah, I forgot that.  They brought me on the ship and they locked me up and they locked me up with another three or four guys.  They locked me up.  The ship was supposed to leave in another half hour.  It was supposed to leave to go to Europe again.  I was crying.  Oh you can’t believe it.  So the other guys - I had my little suitcase.  I never seen no other people on dock.  The ship was blowing the whistle to go soon.  Oh I was so - boy, I’m telling you.  I went through lots o . . . before I stopped in this country.  They brought blind and all kinds of people - you know.  So, one guy - the detective brought me right on that ship . . . they brought me right on the ship and locked me up.  Not like this - put me on the roof.  I stood there.  The whistle blow three times on that ship.  So once - I was crying.  So I see somebody - we asked somebody to open that jail that I was.  They brought somebody else to open up.  And it was the lawyer.  I was sitting down on the suitcase and cry you know.  He said ‘Martin Bussanich.’  I jumped so much.  That suitcase - you can’t believe how I jumped so much.  They took me out.  So I figure I’m going to go home to my dad.  So I went out and the ship - gee, I was so mad.  So I can’t understand how he’s talking.  He said ‘Was I hungry?’  I said ‘Yeah.”  

“Yeah.  So we went in a restaurant.  So what am I going to order?  I can’t order much because I don’t understand.  I don’t know nothing about this country - nothing.  So I look at the one guy.  He was eating.  I said ‘I want that.’  The guy was looking at me.  So I eat.  I take the eggs and pancakes and toast and potatoes - scrambled - what you call it.  Yeah.  After that I figure he’d take me home.  So I look for my dad and I don’t  see nobody.  Mt daddy was working.  So we went back on the ferry but on the island again.  Geez - what is wrong with me?  Back there.  I want to see what is going on.  How are you going to know?  You can’t understand.  So I think finally one guy on the ferry - he was Slavonian guy.  Then I talk to him Slavonian and said ‘Ask this guy why he’s going to put me on the island again.’  Well he said ‘You’re going on the island to - ‘  That time I got examination - that time.  I made a mistake.  That time I got examination and I don’t know nothing.  So he said ‘They going to find out how you’re doing.

“ . . (the first words were garbled/can’t hear) My dad come.  Now he said “You got to stay another two or three days till you get examination.’  I said ‘OK’  So I got examination.  Like I said I got examination.  When they got through, I went out.  So when I went out, we went home - me and dad.  He don’t know nothing.  He asked me if I know anything.  I didn’t. . . . examination - three doctors, not one - three.  I’ll never forget that.  I went out and we went home.  So we wait and wait and wait.  We got letter.  We got letter from the big shots and I’m allowed to stay here.  Yeah, forever.So, geez, I was so glad.  Then I started work.”

The interviewer asks Martin when he started to learn English and Martin replies “Well I still don’t know too much.  And the school you know -  Pick it up very slow.”

Martin Bussanich in center.  (Photo belongs to Niece, Allison Ackerman Kytle)

Martin worked with his father on the Lackawanna Railroad and in a factory on the East Coast before he came to Gig Harbor in 1940.  It was here that he started fishing with Tony Skrivanich, his brother-in-law, and his cousin, Martin Morin, and his brother, Tony Bussanich.

To read the complete oral history, please make an appointment with the Harbor History Museum, and spend a little time in the beautiful Research Room reading.

© 2012 Harbor History Museum. All rights reserved.

Emmett Hunt's Diary entry for Wednesday, March 5, 1884

Cold & NW wind with scattering flakes of snow.  Just about succeeded in getting our tank done today.  We will do more tomorrow.

© 2012 Harbor History Museum. All rights reserved.

SS Beaver

SS Beaver taking on firewood

The SS Beaver, built in Blackwell and the engine in Birmingham, England in 1834 was the first steamer in the Pacific Ocean; the first to cross the Columbia River bar and the first to negotiate the swift waters of the Columbia River; the first to make a regular passenger run between Washington and Oregon; the first steamship on Puget Sound; and the first steamship to be used as a patrol boat on the Pacific Northwest coast.  (Time Machine by Caroline Kellogg, Tacoma News Tribune, July 8, 1979).

In 1822 the United States built Savannah was the first steamship to cross an ocean on a voyage to England.  But unfortunately the US did not continue exploring the development of steam at that time.  This gave England an advantage as they saw a future in steam and took steps to develop steam engines.  However, when the SS Beaver sailed to the Pacific Ocean she did not sail under steam but instead traveled under sail with her steam-driven paddle wheels stowed in the hold.  (Tacoma News Tribune May 14, 1967 -Steamship Beaver Made History).

The reason behind using sail power to cross was simple:  the trip was far too long to carry enough fuel for the entire trip.  (Boiler of Pacific’s First Steamship Here by William J. Betts)

The Birmingham firm that built the engines was Boulton & Watt;  legend has it that James Watt decided that steam could be harnessed to provide power when watching his mother’s teakettle boil.  (Time Machine by Caroline Kellogg, Tacoma News Tribune, July 8, 1979).

The SS Beaver was built for the Hudson’s Bay Company.  Her keel was 101 feet long, had a 32-foot beam and ll-foot draft.  The boilers alone weighed 63.5 tons and cost $22,000.($591,897.81 in 2014).  

In December 1835 the SS Beaver left England on her trip around Cape Horn and she arrived on the Columbia River April 1836.  The Beaver carried a crew of 26, five cannon and capacity of 109 tons. (Time Machine by Caroline Kellogg, Tacoma News Tribune, July 8, 1979)  

However this was a trip that might never have happened if Dr. John McLoughlin, Chief Factor for Hudson’s Bay Company’s Fort Vancouver had had his way.   Dr. McLoughlin had protested to the governors in London from the beginning when they informed him of their plans to build a steamship for the Columbia River trade.  His reasoning was not uncommon when faced with a new technology.  “Why, there was nothing that could displace sails and God’s own wind for propulsion.  If the steamship is found on full trial not to answer so well as expected, will you please inform me if we are nevertheless to keep her or send her home or sell her?”  Despite his protests, the management in England proceeded with their plans and the construction of the Beaver.  (Boiler of Pacific’s First Steamship Here by William J. Betts)

Upon arrival at Fort Vancouver the paddle wheels were installed, and the engine and boiler tested and at 3:30 on a Tuesday morning, May 17, 1836, the SS Beaver weighed anchor and pulled away from the bank.  The little steamship traveling under her own power for the first time, proudly steamed down the Columbia River.  Captain Horne, her first skipper, pulled the whistle lanyard.  Dogs howled at the strange noise and the Indians ran infer of the “fire canoe” that howled like a wolf.  ((Boiler of Pacific’s First Steamship Here by William J. Betts)

In the beginning while running a freight and passenger run between Fort Vancouver and Fort Nisqually Hudson Bay Company discovered it was too costly to continue.  Later the SS Beaver was transferred permanently to Fort Nisqually.  It was during this time that she became a patrol and trading boat running between Fort Nisqually and the northern trading posts.  Her trips sometimes took her as far as Russian Sitka (Alaska) and visited nearly every bay and inlet between Russian Sitka and Puget Sound to trade with the Indians.  (Boiler of Pacific’s First Steamship Here by William J. Betts)

The northern tribes -Haidas, Tlingit and Kwakiutl were much more warlike than their neighbors to the south.  As a result the SS Beaver and her crew always had to take precautions against surprise attacks.  “The decks were protected by boarding nettings to prevent access by the natives otherwise than the gangways, and more than thirty Indians were never allowed on deck at one time, unless they were accompanied by their wives and children” according to Edward Huggins, the last chief factor at Nisqually House.  (Boiler of Pacific’s First Steamship Here by William J. Betts)

Fifteen years after first arriving at the Columbia River, the SS Beaver was replaced in 1851 by the Otter, a propeller driven ship.   Both ships however will placed at the disposal of the government of the Washington Territory during the Indian Wars in the Puget Sound Region in 1855-1856.  (Boiler of Pacific’s First Steamship Here by William J. Betts)

The Beaver was transferred to what is now known as British Columbia, Canada when Great Britain terminated the Joint Occupation Treaty.  Her last trip to Puget Sound area was made under the command of a Captain Seward.  He made a trip to the upper Puget Sound but encountered problems when the US Customs Service seized the Beaver and impounded it for an infraction of revenue laws.  Captain Seward decided he wasn’t going to accept any of the highhanded American officialdom.  He waited until the watchman left the ship for a time and hurriedly got up steam and left American waters for good.  (Boiler of Pacific’s First Steamship Here by William J. Betts)

By 1860 Hudson’s Bay Company decided the Beaver was no longer profitable in the trade and she was outfitted as a passenger ship and made runs between New Westminster and Victoria for several years.   She was chartered by the Imperial Hydrographic Office to use as a survey boat and map most of the coastal waters of British Columbia.  Finally in 1874 the Hudson’s Bay Company sold her to work as a tug.  In 1880 she was extensively damaged due to a fire aboard but was rebuilt and continued her work as a tow.  She was damage a couple more times and then, the end finally came in 1888.  The Beaver hit some rocks just outside Vancouver, and due to her age and the cost of salvage was left stranded on the rocks.  (Boiler of Pacific’s First Steamship Here by William J. Betts)  

In 1966 a replica of the SS Beaver was built to help celebrate the Centenary of the Union of the Canadian Crown Colonies on Vancouver Island and the mainland.  It visited the Puget Sound and Tacoma in May 1967.  (Replica of Ship Not Seen Here For Over 100 Years Makes Port, Win Anderson May 10, 1967 and McNeil Island Gets Beaver Salute by Rod Cardwell, Tacoma News Tribune)

© 2012 Harbor History Museum. All rights reserved.